Mars rover Curiosity lands on surface of Red Planet

[Lorizael]

cost more

It's true. So far, Spirit and Opportunity have cost a mere .03% of the annual budget, whereas Curiosity has already cost .07% of the annual budget.

Edit: I should add that those are not the costs of the mission per year, but their total costs thus far compared to the annual budget. Given that Spirit and Opportunity have been running for 8 years, you could say that their cost per year is .0038% of the annual budget.

However, Curiosity's construction also began in 2004, so you could say that its cost per year so far has been .0088% of the annual budget.

[The Mad Monk]

Shoot laser beams to scan rocks 30 meters away, drill samples and analyse them in a biochemical laboratory, and keep running in a dust storm.

[kentonio]

It could potentially detect traces of life on Mars.

[The Mad Monk]

Specifically, the biochemical lab can identify amino acids and other organic compounds, such that a positive result should be unassailable.

[The Mad Monk]

Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) is an instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory ''Curiosity'' rover. The SAM instrument suite will analyze organics and gases from both atmospheric and solid samples.[1][2]

It was developed by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Laboratoire Inter-Universitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA) (jointly operated by France's CNRS and Parisian universities) and Honeybee Robotics, along with many additional external partners.[1][3][4] The SAM suite consists of three instruments:

1.The Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (QMS) detects gases sampled from the atmosphere or those released from solid samples by heating.[1][5]
2.The Gas Chromatograph (GC) is used to separate out individual gases from a complex mixture into molecular components. The resulting gas flow will be analyzed in the mass spectrometer with a mass range of 2-535 Daltons.[1][5]
3.The Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS) performs precision measurements of oxygen and carbon isotope ratios in carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) in the atmosphere of Mars in order to distinguish between their geochemical or biological origin.[1][4][6][7][5]
The SAM also has three subsystems: the 'Chemical separation and processing laboratory', for enrichment and derivatization of the organic molecules of the sample; the sample manipulation system (SMS) for transporting powder delivered from the MSL drill to a SAM inlet and into one of 74 sample cups.[1] The SMS then moves the sample to the SAM oven to release gases by heating to up to 1000oC;[1][8] and the pumps subsystem to purge the separators and analysers.

Also separate x-ray spectroscopy, diffaraction, and fluorescence packages, and a microscope, which I think are all arm mounted.

All very high end stuff.

[Asher]

There's also a Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, Canada's contribution. It determines the chemical composition of rocks and soil.

Very important to determining if life is/was possible.

[The Mad Monk]

Yep, I included that under spectroscopy.

I ran x-ray spec and diffraction back at Rutgers, interesting stuff. Spectroscopy nets you elemental abundances, and diffraction allows you to tease out the actual crystal structure of substances -- the way the atoms are arranged.

[Wezil]

Science. I don't understand a bit of it but is sounds so very cool.

[Docfeelgood]

Science. I don't understand a bit of it but is sounds so very cool.

just like sex

[Docfeelgood]

I'm sorry Wezil. I just couldn't resist.
You're the man, still.

[rah]

Yeah, that would have worked better on alby or ben.

Disclaimer: Of course ben considers himself an expert since he has read about it and talked about it with others.

[Wezil]

Yeah, I've bumped uglies a few times. Not as much as I would like but most guys would say that...

[Docfeelgood]

Yeah, I've bumped uglies a few times. Not as much as I would like but most guys would say that...

Don't feel bad.
I can't even remember some of the uglies names.

To be honest: Once I did this real, big, huge, fat girl and felt real dirty afterwards.

[Wezil]

That's not what that phrase means.

[Docfeelgood]

That's not what that phrase means.

OMG! what have I done now!